Prefabricated buildings and their assembly



O 1969 1.. v. SMEETH v 3,474,580

7 PREFABRICATED burwmes Am) mam IASSEIIBLY Filed Jan. 23, 1968 4Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 28, 1969 E. L. v. SMEETH PREPABBICATED BUILDINGS ANDTHEIR ASSEMBMI Filed Jan. 23, 1968 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 28, 196$ 5.1..v. SMEETH 3,474,580

PRBF'ABRICATED BUILDINGS AND THEIR ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 23, 1968 4Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct. 28, 1969 E. 1.. v. SMEETH 3,

PRBPABRICATED BUILDINGS AND THEIR ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 23, 1968 4Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,474,580 PREFABRICATED BUILDINGSAND THEIR ASSEMBLY Edmund L. V. Smeeth, Peakirk, Peterborough,Northhamptonshire, England, assignor to Elliotts of PeterboroughLimited, Peterborough, England, -a British company Filed Jan. 23, 1968,Ser. No. 699,818 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 3,1967, 5,445/67 Int. -Cl. E04b 1/00; E02d 35 00; E04g 23/00 US. Cl. 521273 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A prefabricated building formed bysliding units forming the rooms and outside walls of the building into arigid three-dimensional frame constituting the skeleton of the building,the frame having at least one opening large enough to receive theseunits and having rails or other guide means to permit the units to heslid into position within the frame.

This invention relates to prefabricated buildings and their assembly,its aim being to provide a form of construction and a method of assemblywhich enables buildings, particularly schools, ofiices and hospitals, tobe erected quickly and economically with a minimum of labour on site.

Broadly, a prefabricated building in accordance with the presentinvention comprises a rigid three-dimensional frame which supports anumber of slot-in units forming the rooms of the building, the framehaving one or more openings large enough to receive each unit into theframe and having guide means on which the units are movable within theframe, and the units being positioned in the frame as a result of havingbeen inserted through one or more of the said openings and moved alongthe guide means to their appointed positions.

Preferably each slot-in unit is fully prefabricated and finished priorto leaving the factory so that it is complete on arrival at the site.The units in any particular building will generally be all the same sizeand of rectangular shape, their measurements being, for example, 30 x 8'x 8. When joined together the units form the external walls of thebuilding, the internal walls between rooms, the ceilings of the roomsand, where the building has more than one story, the stairway(s) orlift-shaft(s) connecting one floor with the one above it.

The guide means on the frame can comprise two or more parallel rails,girders, beams or channels for each floor of the building, the unitseach having rollers or Wheels which run on these guide means after theunit has been inserted through one of the openings in the frame. Thisallows the units to be positioned without the need of a large labourforce or a heavy crane.

By way of example, a specific prefabricated building in accordance withthe invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the frame of the building;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view from above of the frame with the roofpartially completed;

FIGURE 3 is a ground-level perspective view illustrating the positioningof slot-in units in the frame;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 of the completed building; and

FIGURE 5 is an underneath perspective view of the lower part of aslot-in unit.

The frame shown in FIGURES l-3 is composed of two parallel lines ofupright steel columns and 12, the col- 3,474,580- Patented Oct. 28, 1969umns in each line being at 8 feet centres and the two lines being 30feet apart. The lower ends of the columns 10 and 12 are embedded inconcrete, while their upper ends are joined by steel eaves ties 14 and16. In this particular instance the frame is for a two-story building,so that transverse steel-lattice beams 18 and 20 extending between thetwo lines of columns 10 and 12 are fixed at first floor level (the beams18) as well as at roof level (the beams 20). It is to be understood thata single-story building will have only roof level beams 20, while abuilding having more than two storys will have beams 18 at each floorlevel except the ground floor.

In order that slot-in units forming the walls and cellings of thebuilding may be slid into the frame and be easily located thereinwithout the need of a large labour force or a crane, each floor isprovided with a pair of parallel guide rails, girders, beams or channelsextending the full length of the frame. The ground floor 22 thus has twoangle-section guide rails 24, while the first fioor has a pair of steellattice beams 26 the upper portions of which serve as runways. The guiderails 24 and 26 extend parallel to the lines of columns 10 and 12, thetwo rails of each pair being about eight feet apart.

To facilitate the erection of the frame on site, it is preferable forthe concrete floor 22 of the building to be laid before the columns areinserted into the ground. A concrete working apron 28 is also laid atone end of the frame while the latter is being erected. As shown in FIG-URE 1, a concrete edge beam 30 at floor level is also provided round theentire perimeter of the building, to-

. gether with a pair of steel lattice edge beams 32 and 34 at firstfloor level.

After erection of the frame, a flat roof is laid on the roof beams asshown in FIGURE 2. The roof is composed of 8 feet x 6 feet prefeltedtimber panels 36 which are fixed along their shorter edges to adjacenttransverse roof beams. Two layers 38 of felt roofing material are thenlaid on top of the panels 36.

The frame is now ready to receive the slot-in units which form the roomsand outer walls of the building. The insertion of these units into theframe is shown in FIGURE 3, from which it will be seen that the units 40are inserted through openings at one end of the frame and are thenpushed along the guide rails 24 or 26 to their ap pointed locations. Theslot-in units are fully prefabricated and finished prior to leaving thefactory and arrive on site complete. Each unit measures 30 feet x 8 feetX 8 feet and has two plywood box beams 35 (see FIGURE 5) which supportthe floor structure. Mounted on these beams in a saddle-like manner arefour brackets 37, two on each beam, which are each provided with a pairof wheels 39 for use in sliding the units along the guide rails. Theeight wheels thus provided can, if desired, be made retractable intorecesses within the beams 35, but in the present instance the brackets37 are rigidly fixed in position. The walls of the units are bonded andscrewed to the floor structure, the walls having windows, doors andother fittings according to requirements. Those walls which form theouter walls of the building can be either Arpax treated, decorativetimber or tile hung.

The slot-in units 40 are bolted together after being placed in positionand are also bolted to the abutting portions of the frame. Units to behoused on the first floor are lifted into position by scissor-typepneumatic jacks 42 which incorporate sliding means and centres to matchthe guide rails 26.

All plumbing, heating and electrical services can be housed in the gapsbetween the ground and first floor units and between the roof and thefirst floor units. These gaps also provide a certain amount of soundinsulation and give plenty of space for the installation of fireprevention materials such as asbestos wool.

The invention therefore makes possible the erection of a building in thefollowing stages:

STAGE 1 (a) Site clearance.

(b) Site marking out to standard dimensnons or template.

(c) Site excavation.

(d) Pouring the concrete to form the floor of the building, to reinforcethe column bases, and to form the working apron 28.

STAGE 2 Delivery and erection of prefabricated steel frame.

STAGE 3 Location of runways on ground and first floor levels.

STAGE 4 Roof covering and finishing including roof drainage.

STAGE 5 Delivery and location of slot-in units with plumbing and heatingservices progressing according to the rate of delivery.

STAGE 6 Delivery and insertion of fire prevention and/0r soundinsulation material in the gaps between the ground units and first floorunits and between the roof and first floor units.

It will therefore be seen that the construction of build ing and methodof assembly described above allows excellent use to be made offactory-made prefabricated units without requiring the use of heavyequipment on the site. Further, site works such as landscaping can becarried out prior to arrival of the slot-in units. Yet another advantageis that the building can be readily taken down without destruction ofthe slot-in units.

I claim:

1. A prefabricated building comprising a rigid threedimensional framesupporting a plurality of juxtaposed units forming the rooms of thebuilding, said frame including at least two spaced-apart parallel linesof upright columns extending upwards from a ground floor, the length ofeach line of columns being equal to the combined length of at least twojuxtaposed units, at least two eaves ties each joining together theupper ends only of the columns in the respective two lines, a pluralityof cross beams of open-work lattice construction extending horizontallybetween the two lines of columns at a level well above the ground floor,and a pair of spaced-apart parallel elongated guideways extendingcontinuously along the ground floor for substantially the full length ofthe two lines of columns in a direction parallel to said lines and at alocation which is between the said lines of columns and spaced away fromthem, said units being prefabricated rectangular enclosures of the samesize as each other which together form all of the external walls of thebuilding except the roof and ground floor, the internal walls betweenrooms and the ceilings of the rooms, the units each having a floorbeneath which are mounted at least two spaced-apart sets of rollersadapted to run along said guideways, the width of each unit being onlyslightly less than the distance between the two lines of said columnsand the height of each unit being only slightly less than the verticaldistance between the ground floor and the lower surfaces of saidcrossbeams, whereby a plurality of units are individually and in turninsertable into and removable from the frame through one end openingbetween the two lines of columns.

2. A prefabricated building according to claim 1, in which crossbeams ofopen-work lattice construction extend between the two lines of columnsat roof level and at all floor levels above the ground fioor, and inwhich two guideways corresponding to those provided on the ground floorare supported by the crossbeams at each fioor level between the groundfloor and the roof-level crossbeams.

3. A prefabricated building according to claim 2, in which each story ofthe building comprises a line of at least three units all insertedthrough the same end opening between the two lines of columns.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,499,498 3/1950 Hammond 52-236 X3,304,675 2/ 1967 Graham-Wood et al. 52-236 3,388,512 6/1968 Newman52236 X ALFRED C. PERI-1AM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 52-443, 236

